UP FRONT: WORTH NOTING

UP FRONT: WORTH NOTING; A Valedictory Mess At Moorestown High

By Robert Strauss

Published: June 8, 2003

Blair Hornstine, an honors student at Moorestown High School, was on track to graduate at the top of her class and had been accepted at Harvard University in the fall. Then it all began to unravel.

When the school district said it was planning to name another student to share honors as co-valedictorians, she filed suit in federal court to be declared the sole valedictorian.

Then, last week, The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill accused Ms. Hornstine of having had insufficient attribution for articles she wrote as a frequent contributor to its teen-oriented weekly Static section over the last year. And at Harvard, petitions with as many as 1,000 signatures have been circulated asking that her acceptance be rescinded.

Ms. Hornstine made headlines earlier this year in her suit against the school district, which had said she was able to get a higher grade point average because she had been home-schooled at times because of an immune-system illness and, as a result, had taken more advanced placement courses and fewer low-rated physical education courses. Arguing that she had the highest grades and should not have to share the top honors in her class, she sued and won the right to be sole valedictorian. The part of her lawsuit seeking $2.7 million in damages has not been decided.

At The Courier-Post, a spokesman, Carl Lovern, said last week that a reporter researching an article on Ms. Hornstine's suit had looked over her contributions to Static and found that several lacked attribution.

A correction in the newspaper on Tuesday pointed to five of them and said that Ms. Hornstine had not attributed certain sections of her work to historical figures like Justice Potter Stewart of the Supreme Court and President Bill Clinton. The newspaper has removed all the articles from its Web site.

Derek Osenenko, the executive editor of the newspaper, said in a statement: ''We have a responsibility to our readers to account for information that has been published without attribution, just as we would for any incorrect or unclear information we've published. After very careful analysis in this case, we believe key information in these articles and essays needed such attribution.''

Ms. Hornstine has said that she is planning to attend Harvard. On Thursday, The Harvard Crimson reported the circulation of the petitions. It also quoted the director of undergraduate admissions, Marlyn McGrath Lewis, as saying that ''several'' offers of admission to the class of 2007 were under review but did not say whether one of those was Ms. Hornstine's.

Coincidentally, that same day, Ms. Hornstine's brother, Adam, who will be attending Harvard Law School in the fall, was attending his own graduation from Harvard. Robert Strauss

Photo: Blair Hornstine, an honors student, is in the news again. (Associated Press)